At least 29 Germans killed in Madeira tourist bus crash

Not less than 29 lives have been claimed after a bus carrying German tourists skidded off a road and overturned on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Another 27 were injured in the accident near the town of Caniço.

BBC gathered that the accident happened on Wednesday at 6:30 pm when the driver lost control of the bus at a junction and went off the road.

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Local Mayor Filipe Sousa who spoke to journalists said all the tourists on the bus were German while some local people could also be among the casualties adding that eleven of the fatalities were men and 17 women.

The bus was reported to be carrying 55 passengers, as well as the driver and a tour guide.

The German government spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted:

“Our deep sorrow goes to all those who lost their lives in the bus accident, our thoughts are with the injured.”

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he would travel to Madeira overnight while Medical teams were being sent from Lisbon to help local staff carry out post-mortems on the dead.

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